12-31-13 Daesung's Music, Presents From Family, and Joah-Seonghoon

11:15 AM  Last day of the new year!

I walked into the school this morning to the most amazing intro music, courtesy of Daesung.

The second I stepped through the doors, I thought I heard the jinglebell/musicbox twinkly intro notes from Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas Is You." I was a bit disoriented because I couldn't see a soul in the hallway, and it would be very weird for our school to be blaring Christmas music over the PA system, on New Year's Eve. Also, I wondered why the opening chords were exactly timed to my entrance through the doors.

Then I saw him. Daesung was walking down the staircase, holding up his phone, from which the song was playing very loudly. He was smiling and taking the stairs one at a time, in step with the music. All this happened within about five seconds. I started singing along with the opening lines, which made him even happier, then I walked down the hall to my office, still singing.

After that, it hit me why Daesung just happened to be playing my favorite non-hymn Christmas song the moment I walked in the door. Last week, I was singing all kinds of Christmas songs as I walked through the halls, but "All I Want For Christmas" probably got some extra vocal time because it's fun to sing.

Daesung heard me last week and found the song on his phone. Then this morning, he saw me through the window and positioned himself on the staircase just out of sight so that he could play the song when I walked in, then make a dramatic down-stair walk. The darlingness of this boy. I just can't.

Arrived to find a present from my aunt and uncle on my desk!

Thank Youuuuuuu.

And within were Christmas decorations, and a musical card that was perfectly cheery:

And a silver "L" necklace! Silver's my favorite metal color and I was just needing some necklaces because I only have one with a cross and one with a bird's wing emblem. And the bird wing looks likely to break soon.

Pretty-Pretty!

Class went really well, considering that we accomplished almost nothing. I got to school this morning and the printer wouldn't work, so I had to go to two different people's computers to print off my stuff. And then I got to class to find only three kids! Fox-Jinsu, Food-Seongyo, and Quiet-Yosep.

But we were fine. I just moved from table to table and helped each boy individually. And I had gone to Paris Baguette to pick up some pound cake bread for the boys, since Seongyo said he was hungry yesterday. Sure enough, when I produced the bread, he was ready to eat. I gave him two slices and he said, "One person..두개? (one person, two pieces?)" I told him that he got two because he was special. 

Everyonbe ended up getting two pieces at the end, except Jinsu. He wouldn't eat his pound cake for a long time, then eventually I meandered back to his part of the room and found it had been scarfed down. After the first class period was over, Quick-Yoonmo and Wintercamp-Jeongmin showed up, and they were happy to eat two slices of poundcake, too. Seongyo eat three, all told.

And what a difference it made in Seongyo's attitude! He was talking to me all the time. I had no earthly clue that Seongyo had so much English, but he used every last word at his disposal to discuss things with me. He told me that today was the very last day of our year, and we chatted about that for a while. 

At the end, when I asked the boys if they wanted more poundcake, I said in English, "I think boys are always hungry" and Seongyo said "Yes. 청소년 is a hungry time." I was blown away by his almost-totally-English sentence and the way he comprehended what I was saying, then added on to it. I didn't know what the Korean word meant, so he typed it into my phone dictionary and came up with "adolescence" or "youth". Seongyo told me that youth is a hungry time. Maybe I can make it less hungry for him, for these few days.

Well, the peppermint chocolate is not a big hit. Some kids want more, but by and large they are perplexed by the taste, like I was perplexed at burnt rice candy and ginseng candy once upon a time. Byeongjo looked like he was going to combust when he tried it. I attempted to stop laughing, but it was no use. He just looked too horrified at the peppermint taste.

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1:15 PM I'm at home, drinking a Mountain Dew with my lunch because one of my boys met me on the street and gave it to me.

A Mystic Aura Surrounds the Dew.

I had gotten home and was heading back outside to pay a bill at the bank (you put your card in the ATM and press in the transfer amount and the bank number of the recipient--bill paying made super easy!). I sensed a guy running up and falling into step close behind me, and since grown men don't do this I knew it had to be one of my boys.

Sure enough, beside me was Joah Kid. He's a 3rd-grader, presumably C-class, with the cutest glasses and the biggest smile, and a penchant for singing "Joah" to me in the halls. Some kids tease me in this way some of the time--Joah Kid does it all the time, to the extent that it's become the main thing I associate with him. 

He walked beside me and asked where I was going in polite Korean. Well, that earned him points right there--I love it when the students are polite. I told him in English and Korean that I was going to the bank, and he asked if it was the one around the corner, and wondered why I was going. I produced a little yellow piece of paper--my electricity bill--and he nodded sagely. I asked where he was going and he said to a friend's house.

Then he handed me a can of Mountain Dew. Or he tried to, and I refused it because you're supposed to refuse things the first time and I didn't know if he might need it for himself. Then he showed me his own Mountain Dew can and said, "One plus one," meaning the standard special deal in Korean stores of buy-one-get-one-free. (We have sooooo much buy-one-get-one-free stuff in Korea. Sometimes you don't even want the extra thing because it'll be hard to carry both items, but the store clerks make you take it anyway.) 

Once I knew that the Mountain Dew can was a spare he had, I accepted it and put it in my huge coat pocket. Then I asked him his name. It's Seonghoon, like little baby Laryngitis Seonghoon in 1-9, 1-10 B. I took out a pen and wrote his name on my hand so he could see it, then I told him I'd remember.

He walked me to the bank and asked if I lived close by. I said I did, in one of the small studio buildings. I tried to tell him that this was the last day of the year, but I think I ended up telling him it was my last day. As in, my lat day of work. He asked when I'd be back, but at this point I had to step inside the bank. So I had a lovely conversation and a much-needed caffeine fix, all thanks to the generosity of Joah-Seonghoon. What a cool kid.


In camp this morning, the boys were supposed to start solving a mystery, but we were only just able to fill out more detective information, answering quiz questions about what kind of detectives we were and designing a detective agency name and logo. They were supposed to collaborate and make an agency together, but I quickly learned that even the best friends wanted separate things and preferred making their own agencies.

Fox-Jinsu was strangely quiet today without his friends there. He looked depressed and distant, but I kept going back to sit with him and work with him on his papers and start UNO games with him during the break. Jinsu was such a wild one during afterschool, I never suspected that he had feelings. But now I see more than one side to him.

This is His Detective Logo--Orange Arrow Shape and Blue Star.

And here's Food-Seongyo's--he's a "Hacker" class of detective, so his company name is Master of Hacker, and his logo is a square of binary code at the center of an X.

Clever One, This Is.

And Here's Wintercamp Jeongmin, Working Away.

And. And then there is Quiet-Yosep's detective agency...which he named "Goat History Book".

I Have No Idea What's Happening Here, But I Like It.

We played UNO during the break and Spoons in the last five minutes, where Yosep manages to lose twice in quick succession.

Co-Teacher showed me the list of kids that got into the Saturday gifted program, and Jeongminnie and Hyungro are in! Whew. I wasn't worried because they're geniuses, but I also was a bit on edge for them, since the class means so much to them.

It's New Year's Eve! Let's be thankful!
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12-30-13 Winter Camp, UNO with Seongyo, and Weekend Photos

12 PM:  Good day! It was really a good plan, all told, to pick the first two class periods to teach Winter Camp. Because my classes are over at 10:35 AM, leaving the rest of the day to pay bills, sleep, study etc. Wheeeeee!

I was running wild this morning, trying to get everything together. I had been planning a little all week, trying to get ready for this, but the trouble with new things at school is that I can plan all I want, but the situation is always going to look very different up close. You can only pick a good direction for your activities, plus some alternate games and ideas and rewards, because nothing will go according to plan.

So I had some plans downloaded for a Detective Camp, where the kids will solve a mystery over the course of the next two weeks. I altered some things, took out some things, and had a loose structure that could be collapsed and re-arranged in any fashion.

I got to school and printed out stuff. Then I was given my class list--I hadn't known whether to prepare for 5 first-graders or 25, but I assumed there would be a lot. There were just 11 names on the list, which made me happy. Then I realized that I only recognized 4 of the names, so I was going to be getting all-new younguns I hadn't met before, which is another curveball since I don't know if they're A-class, C-class, studious or crazy. But whatevs, they're my assigned kids, and we'll make this work.

After walking upstairs, I realized that I didn't know which classroom I was supposed to be in. The English Center, I was told, but it was locked and the only two teachers who have keys were absent (there are people at school, both teachers and kids, but it's like a skeleton crew manning the ship). Finally, one of the older female teachers decided to just let me hang out in 2-6 with my kids, and that was good enough for us.

15 minutes late, we got going. I had eleven kids on my list and only five in class! Yosep from 1-7, 1-8 B, a nice kid who doesn't say much. Seongyo, a deeply serious tiny tot from 1-3, 1-4 B, Sangho, a big, strong kid with good English for a B-class from 1-1, 1-2 B, Jinsu, a sly and foxlike boy from my afterschool (and the only A-class boy in Winter Camp), and Jonghoon, a nice boy I just met today.

They all sat way far apart, but I did a little getting-to-know-you exercise and we started warming up. I had to continually use my phone dictionary to translate English to Korean, but things worked out and the boys seemed to like how I was trying to find solutions.

Just before breaktime two more kids got there; a Jeongmin (heaven help me, another Jeongmin? This one is christened Wintercamp Jeongmin) and Yoonmo, a clever kid who is actually C-class.

During the break, I pulled out the UNO cards and played Yoonmo, Yosep, Wintercamp-Jeongmin, and Seongyo. They looooved it, because two of them are totally new to me, and two of them are in my classes but haven't made themselves "my boys" yet. So they haven't gotten to hang out with me and just laugh and have fun yet.

I was so glad I got to play with them, because of Seongyo. In my head, I've been calling him something like "Sad Seongyo" because he sits all alone in class with a mournful expression on his face. When he does speak, what he says is intelligent but he's so quiet, it's easy for the other kids to overshadow him. But boy, when he gets going with UNO he's a small tornado.

Seongyo was out at the bathroom when we started playing, but I called him over to watch us, then to join in the second game. When he played a card that made me draw 4 cards, I announced that I was mad at him and I swatted his knee a few times. I smile lit his whole face. It's so wonderful to be fussed at by somebody who obviously likes you. Before long, he was whistling to himself, hollering "nice-uh!" when he got a good card and laying down combinations like a pro.

Seongyo also laid his head down on his desk before that and said, "Teacher, 배고파요. Teacher I'm hungry." You know just how to hurt my heart, don't you Seongyo? A tiny, sad-looking boy telling me he needs food. I only had chocolate with me for the end of class, but I gave him a few pieces early. Tomorrow, I will bring a food-like substance in case that baby is hungry again.

We made detective badges, then I ran a black pastel chalk over their thumb and forefinger so we could fingerprint them. We had to wash our hands after that one. Next, we did a "what kind of detective are you?" quiz to see what roles they could fulfill. I collected their materials and promised we'd start working on our real mystery tomorrow--today was just prep for it.

We had a good time! Though by no means were we all in harmony, diligently working together on our English. I didn't have their full attention and I doubt they learned a single new word, but we did enjoy each other's company, and I got to see Seongyo smile. Mission accomplished.

When my first-grade boys were done, Taekyoon and Sangwook from 2-5, 2-6 B came in to talk with me and hang out and get candy. They tease me like crazy, these two. They leaned into my classroom to yell "Guys!" in their fake girly-baby voices, pretending to be me.

Then 2nd-grade Taekyoon started beating up 1st-grade Sangho, but Sangho probably had it coming, plus Sangho is one of the biggest first-grader ever, so he could take whatever punishment Taekyoon was dealing out. I made us all laugh by stopping Taekyoon on the grounds that he was a big 2nd-grader and Sangho was "just a little first-grader!" Sangho looked tearful and nodded his agreement--that it was unthinkable that a defenseless waif such as himself should be attacked. It's funny because Sangho is man-sized and probably outweighs Taekyoon, despite being the 동생 (younger kid).

To get their chocolate, I made Taekyoon and Sangwook answer the question 'what is your favorite movie"? Sangwook grinned and answered with something inappropriate, so I started hitting his head, which he quickly protected. I can't tell you how happy he was to be the object of such violence. He looked so pleased with himself--I was only pretending to be upset and he was only pretending to be bad, so it was like what happens when you annoy your mom or your sister.

Sangwook also wanted to know if I paid $100 for the basic packages of Reeses I gave to them. He and Taekyoon gradually made it known to me that they thought I'd been spending boocoodles of cash on Reeses, since they can scarcely be found anywhere in Korea. Sangwook looked up some pricing on his phone and showed me a Korean site where a family sized bag of Reeses cups was being sold for 100,000 won--about a hundred dollars.

I quickly explained that Reeses were cheaper in the States, and that I had gotten packages from my mother (well, the international postage does make it expensive after all, but still it wasn't pricey in the way they were thinking). I thought it was cool that the Reeses treats were the subject of so much love, the boys were actually going online to try to order their own. Cute. Then I said goodbye to my 2nd-grade boys and packed up for home.

This morning, I got to hug Piano-Jaehyung as he came into the office. I saw Daesung and I thought he was commenting on how my hair was different today, but he was trying to get me to notice that his hair is different. He put a dark brown rinse in it, so it is now no longer precisely pitch black. I told him it looked cool.

Pictures of my Dutch Coffee from Saturday:

It's only called "Dutch coffee" in Korea, and I'm pretty sure it's not Dutch. It's a major craze here, with everybody wanting to try it, but a Google search reveals no information about the beverage, probably because it's called something else in the States.

You get a small pitcher of milk, which has been foamed a bit. And you get a glass full of coffee ice cubes and a bit of cold coffee. I always order with a friend, so we split the coffee cubes between two glasses, pour milk over the cubes, then pour in the little sliver pitcher of hazelnut syrup for sweetness.

It's a fun little do-it-yourself drink, and it's extra fun because normally with a cold drink, the coffee gets more watery as the ice cubes melt, but with this one, the milk gets more coffee-flavored as the cubes melt.

Also, at my favorite coffee shop, most of the cubes are shaped to looked like coffee beans, but for whatever reason, precisely one cube is always shaped like a Lego Man.

He Thinks He's Camouflaged.

Which begs the question, where does one even obtain a Lego-man-shaped ice cube tray to make these things?

I Have You Now!

And yesterday I went to my first Korean wedding! It was very Disney-Vegas as other people have said, what with the catwalk, the flashing neon lights, the mirrored chandelier stuff, and the explosion of golden streamers at the end. The bride was one of the prettiest I've ever seen--she looked like she had stepped out of an enchanted garden.

I had only met the couple once in passing, but they invited me to their wedding because in Korea, it's generally good to have a ton of people at your wedding, so the more the merrier. 

On my way to the train station yesterday, I met Proposal-Heejoon and his crew of other first-graders on the bridge. We walked together and chatted about the movie they were going to see and the movies I had recently seen. I complimented one of the boys on his outlandish red-and-orange winter break hair (he couldn't wear it like that to school). It was a lovely time.

Over the weekend, I got a couple of inappropriate texts from Jinhwan's phone number, but I knew it wasn't him because his English wasn't good enough to write the messages, plus he loves me too much to be crude. He immediately sent me a half dozen horrified, apologetic texts in formal Korean, explaining that his friends stole his phone ("Teacher, I didn't say that, it honestly wasn't me! Really. I love you and that won't ever happen again.) I told him in Korean that it was okay and that I understood. he replied in Korean, "Hee hee hee. I love you." Good to know, kiddo. Good to know.

Saturday Jeongmin texted me from the airport--he's off to Canada on his adventure! I'm praying for him to be safe.

Last night, me and my friends had a girls' night and watched a movie, A Werewolf Boy (늑대소년) that made me cry.

Don't Watch Unless You Enjoy Weeping All the Tears. 

It's a story set in 1970's South Korea, where a family with a teenage daughter finds a feral teenage boy in the woods. At first it seems like he's just a regular person who has been living with animals, because he acts like an animal and can't speak, but then it becomes apparent that he's actually a supernatural creature. And of course, people want to kill him, but the girl fights to save him from the bad guy.

I really like the main actor, Song Joongki, in his other projects. He's older than me, but in this movie he's just like a child; a hungry, hurt child who has never been cared for. This is something I've seen before, both because my family has done foster care and because some of my students are...well, if they're not "neglected," let's say they're certainly not highly valued or carefully provided for.

The mom in the movie is good to the wolf boy, but it's the girl who really becomes his champion and you can just see it changing his whole world, not just because he's learning how to eat with utensils or how to write his alphabet like a civilized person, but because no one has ever cared before.

Kids wear visible signs of love and care like they would wear a coat. If they are cherished and valued, everyone sees it. It's like a little sign hanging over their head that says "somebody loves this one". While watching the movie, I kept seeing how uncared-for the main character was, and then everything the girl did to take care of him inevitably reminded me of my students. Such as:

-The girl keeps saying "gidaryeo" or "wait" to him. It's probably the most frequently spoken and significant word in the movie. I say this word in Korean to the kids all the time, because they have no patience and they're in the process of learning how to be grown-ups. Wait, I tell them. Wait a little. Good things are coming your way, you just have to wait for now.

-Every time the boy does something good, the girl pats his head. I do the same thing to my boys, reassuring them that everything's okay.

-The boy clearly has a world of things to say, but he can't talk to the girl. She talks incessantly to him, but he's not really getting most of the words. My students often can't communicate with me at all, and even though I say a lot, they only get a word here and there.

In short, the film made me think about how big a difference some love and care can make. It's not an exact analogy of course, because none of the foster kids I've met are feral supernatural creatures and none of my students have been literally raised by wolves. But the world is full of horrifically hurt, neglected, and consistently overlooked people. Even if you can't talk to them, you should love them anyway. You might be the only person in their life who does so.
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12-27-13 Walking With Wooseok, Mispronouncing Names, and Winter Vacation

9:20 AM Walked to school part of the way with Wooseok! I was tromping along when I saw a familiar bowlcut ahead of me. He had just turned around to give me a little wave, and I walked several yards behind him.

I decided to catch up a little in case he wanted to walk together. But he took a split in the road which left him walking close to the river and me walking on the main road about 10 feet higher, directly across from him. I called down, "Hey why are you walking down there instead of up here?" He smiled and surprised me by walking up the bank to get in step with me.

I linked arms with him and asked him about his Christmas. He didn't get presents, he said (a lot of the kids said their parents didn't get them anything! Goes to show how de-emphasized the family aspect of Christmas is.). I told him that I got perfume and he immediately asked, "누구 한테?" (Who from?) when I said my friend's name he asked "여자?" (Female?). I told him yes, my friend is a girl.

We talked briefly about the fact that it's winter vacation before Wooseok split off to take a side path that is undoubtedly a shortcut to school, or at least a path that keeps you free of punishments from teachers who notice you're late.

It was so sweet! I only held his arm for a minute, because I thought it was the right thing to do, since he needs to know he's valuable and it's something I've done with Jaehyung and something the kids do with each other. He wasn't uncomfortable, but he was smiling shyly and talking like a normal person, which is kind of amazing considering what a wild child he normally is. Everybody's got a precious side to them. The teachers think Wooseok is an ADHD menace and the students think he's a few forks short of a place setting, but he's a kid in need of love and care, too.
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11 AM: Well, I only got to hang out with 1-3, 1-4 B today because only 1st and 2nd periods were taught, so no Byeonghyun and Seongmo for me since I didn't teach 2-1, 2-2 A. *sniffle*

In 1-3, 1-4 B the boys were 300% ready to play monopoly, and we did it in teams: 1. Me and Sangyeop 2. Dongseok 3. Walk-to-School-Mingi 4. Yong and Eunchan. Jaeson was our know-it-all banker who doesn't speak more English than the other boys but who somehow understands more and therefore can translate.

Sangyeop and I quickly fell into a "married couple" bicker-and-compromise relationship because when we rolled the dice, sometimes he wanted to switch towers with another player while I thought it was best to move 5 spaces and take a Chance card, which might get us more money.  Then I told him not to buy McDonalds because it was too expensive for us, whereupon he revealed that we could afford it because he had hidden away a $500 bill in his jacket pocket the whole time. The sudden revelation that we were wealthy was glorious. Jaeson started humming the Wedding March at us.

Sangyeop also pulled out two strands of my hair. He's been threatening to do it for forever, and finally the temptation of sitting by me was just too great. I poked his arm like I was angry, but it really reminded me so much of my oldest younger brother and how he used to think pulling out my hair one strand at a time was the best thing ever.

Additionally, I learned that calling Mingi "Min-ki" with a K-sound is totally the wrong way to say his name and it should be "Min-gi" with a G as in "go, gold, gone". The way I had been pronouncing it was either nonsense or something inappropriate because the boys always giggled when I said Mingi's name and they finally told me I was doing it wrong. Le sigh. But Mingi loves me--he knows I didn't mean to mangle his name.

Though that's nothing compared to the kid I think I accidentally called "disabled" as if it was his name. In Korean, calling someone "crazy" or "disabled" is essentially cursing. The boys always told me early on in English that other students were impaired: "Teacher, he crazy! Teacher, he disabled!" And while I thought those comments were unkind, they clearly were ridiculous and untrue, and overall those were really mild bad things to say about a person.

Actually, no. In English they're mild, but in Korean they sound much harsher. It's still low-level profanity, not to be ranked with the nuclear-level bad words, but I wish someone had conveyed this linguistic nuance to me before I called one of my boys 미친 학생 (crazy student).

Anyhow, all the names that start with "Byeong" share a syllable with the curse word for "disabled". Byeongwon (병원) is a hospital, because the syllable Byeong (병)can mean illness. One day i called the Byeongyoon who isn't my Byeongyoon  by what I thought was his name, but by the stricken, terrified look on his face, I figured I had actually called him "Disabled" as if it were his name, since his name sounds so much like it, and since I hear the boys cursing in Korean all day. I'm not positive, but I'm about 85% convinced that's what happened in a moment of verbal confusion. I have taken great care with his name since then.
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11:40 AM The kids are all leaving. Filing out like a herd of wildebeest.

I stepped out to look for Jeongmin, and was greeted by Model-Seokho on the porch. I wished him a happy vacation in garbled Korean and he wished me a happy vacation in garbled English (happy winter, happy snow vacation!) and it was lovely.

Backin 1-3, 1-4 B, Supersmart Eunchan was trying to figure out which winter break classes I'll be teaching because he wants to be in them. Daww. Aw. Cute. I want class with you too, Eunchannie.

In the halls, I had plenty of fun. Minjoon and Seonwoo followed me around, chorusing "chocolatechocolatechocolatechocolate" until I turned around and showed them my hands, flattened into judo-chop readiness, and and asked, "Do you want to fight me?", taking a cue from that 3rd-grader from the other day. They squealed and said, "Yesss!"

HH came up, smiling and asking for chocolate. I asked what he did for Christmas and he said he saw a movie, whose Korean title I hadn't heard before. That's a pretty good Christmas, considering. I stopped asking most of the boys what they did for Christmas because it's so depressing to hear they did nothing or they went to a PC bang. I may mentally comprehend that in Korea, Christmas has an importance on par with Arbor Day, but it's still jarring to feel it's non-event-ness.

Shotputter Jinseong got chocolate from me and he tried to block Dongjin from coming close. Jinseong nudged my arm to get me to move along down the hall, while he ran interference with Dongjin, who weighs about 100 pounds less than Jinseong and thus has no fighting chance. Dongjin yelled, "That's my wife, don't touch my wife!" And Jinseong replied, "MY wife." Junho wasn't there or we'd have ourselves a truly epic territorial dispute.

Seongwonnie hid behind a door so he could jump out and surprise me. We walked down the hall doing a cross between fist-bumps and pattycake, just generally having a fun time together.

I remembered that yesterday when I asked 3rd-grade Eunho how he was, he replied (as if standard for C-class boys): "I'm fine thank-you-and-you?" This is the set response they're taught in elementary school, but most native speakers cringe to hear it because no Americans, Canadians, Brits, or South Africans really respond to the "how are you?" question that precise way.

We'll say, "I'm alright. Have you been okay?/ Feeling lousy, but the weekend's almost here!/ I'm good. How are you doing?" etc. There's a million ways to reply, not just one way, and the stilted delivery the boys give usually sounds like memorized blocks of sound instead of a real human response. I don't frown when the boys say "I'm fine thank-you-and-you." I just casually suggest, "You can say, "I'm good!""

So when Eunho told me the standard phrase, Jaehwan interjected, "No, I'm good," looking pointedly at his ignorant friend, then smiling at me to let me know he was a clever boy who could be smooth in another language.You go, Jaehwan, with your natural-sounding English.
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12-26-13 Hyungjin, Sanghwa Calls Out, Dinner With S-Teacher

2:30 PM Well, today's been good. I'm rather beat, though.

First period was 2-1, 2-2 B, where I played Monopoly with Taylor-Swift-Yoontae, Twin-Seungho, and Woojin. Twin-Seungho's a crackup, just like his brother Jeongho, when you give him a chance. Every time something went right for him, he'd do a little fist pump or a small victory dance while remaining sitting. Even funnier, he seemed exactly like an old man during all these antics.

Next, I had 1-9, 1-10 B and everyone treated Deokryong like an actual person while we were playing. Geonhong, a tall, reserved kid, was grinning like crazy and enjoying himself during the game. I was so gratified to see him happy.

Hoodie-Woohyuk and Governor-Yunho wanted to play Cat Mario and none fo the kids were really watching the movie, so I switched the cables and let them play. It was interesting to me that they were still obsessed with beating the unbeatable game a whole week after playing it the first time.

As I was handing out chocolate at the end, Deukhee said thank you and it occurred to me that this baby was one of the first kids I knew here. He was at that first Saturday class where I was tagging along after B-Teacher. Our records teacher had Deukhee carry me a banana milkshake and a sandwich. I checked my posts--that happened on August 31st, nearly four months ago. Feels like it happened during my first year of college, it was so long back.

Next, my Tuesday 3rd-grade class had been moved to today, meaning that I had 4 class periods in a row. They were relatively easy because I just played movies and Monopoly the whole time, but 4 straight classes is still tiring because I'm still interacting with the boys on a very intense level--chatting, explaining, using Korean, trying to calm disputes, trying to ask about their lives.

Fortunately, Giant Shion came to class for the 3rd-graders. He has basically never come to English class (don't know how he manages to stay B-ban not C-ban if he does that with any other classes), but he was there today and he won our Monopoly game. After much persuading, he came over and sat with me and Hunyeong and Juyeong and played contentedly. Hunyeong is still trying to take care of me, and he offered me some of his own Monopoly money.

Eyelashes-Hyungjin, a kid who I knew early on at school but who has studiously ignored me for a long time, said something really nice. Hyungjin only started speaking to me two weeks ago, when he discovered that I had chocolate. Even then, he could never remember my name and when I asked him why he couldn't remember me when I was the only foreign woman at our school, he said "I know many people!"

But today Hyungjin walked away from his friend group to come tell me in English that he had seen me yesterday night in front of the Megabox. On Christmas night, I walked down to our theater to check movie times and out of the corner of my eye, I thought I saw Hyungjin! But I decided not to turn and look directly because the boy in my periphery had a girl with him, which sometimes makes my boys more chatty because they want their girl to meet me, and sometimes makes them ignore me entirely.

And it was really him, after all. :-) Hyungjin looked very proud to have spotted me and he said, "My girlfriend..." before mimicking being arm-in-arm with a girl and having his arm tugged by her. I think he was trying to say that his girl pulled him closer when she saw me. Never know when those tricky foreigners are going to look away from the movie marquee and decide to steal your man, I guess. It was nice that my last class with Hyungjin had that good moment of recognition.


Interrupt this post to say that Adorable History Teacher just brought me a slice of cake.

Blueberry! Yes, We Eat Our Cake With Chopsticks.

Finally, it was time for 2-5, 2-6 A, boys who had been looking forward to Monopoly all week.

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8:30 PM Finally back to writing!  2-5, 2-6 A was just lovely. We had so many technical difficulties with getting our move to play, but it finally got going and Seungwoon, Jinseo, Seungjae, Minsu, and Dongheum could at last get their much-deserved game. I love 2-5, 2-6 A. They're so chill, and Deokjae teases me for everything, and Jinseo is a smarty and Seungwoon is a sweetie.

Then I rushed with all joy unto my lunch. I lunched and lunched and lunched. Four classes was way too many in a row, but I got some good nourishment in after that. Jeongminnie came to watch videos and he told me how much he liked his Christmas present.

Daesung was just standing around and hanging out, watching me and Jeongmin watch videos. So I told him to pull up a chair so he could be with us. At one point I asked Daesung what song he was listening to on his iPod. He gave me one earbud and I about died laughing when I heard the first strains of Justin Bieber's song "Baby". Daesung's such a sweetie though, it's natural for him to have darling taste in music.

When my 3rd-graders came to get me, I walked to the room with them and then gave the Monopoly game to Jaehwan as a present. It took a minute to convince him that I meant it, but he finally believed me. I gave Jinhwan my Monopoly cards, too. Thanks to my mother, I have backup copies of both games, and I knew Jaehwan and Jinhwan needed something special from me.

Later, Jinhwan called me aside in the hallway to ask me why I had given them the games and I tried to explain that it was because winter vacation is coming up and in March they will be high school students--I won't see them much, or won't see them at all. Jinhwan looked very serious, like we were in a heartfelt movie where he'd run through a busy terminal to tell me not to get on a plane. I think it's just now sinking in for him that he's leaving middle school and his whole life is going to change.

Went and sat in the special needs room and read webtoons with Piano-Jaehyung. He'd scroll down the comic page and read the words to me, but of course he was reading really fast and my vocabulary's limited, but I still laughed uproariously at some of the storylines.

In one webtoon, a mother character told the dad that she was going to have some friends over, so could he clean the house and tidy up the kids while she's out? Various mishaps occur, and Mom returns to her house with friends in tow, only to find a frazzled Dad holding a filthy child under each arm as if they're footballs, all while trying to walk through glass on the kitchen floor because he knocked over something massive that shattered everywhere. I lost it. The scenario seemed so true to life. Jaehyung has great taste in comedy webtoons.

I was walking down the hall with Jaehyung when far off I heard, "Leigh! Leighhhhh!" It was Sanghwa. His little lime green coat and fuzzy head were visible from down the hall and he called out, "chocolaaaate?!!??" I grabbed Jaehyung's arm and said, "Run!" so we sprinted a few steps to my office to get away from Sanghwa. I was just teasing, but when I emerged from my office with chocolate for Sanghwa, he had already gone. I decided to go find him during the next class break.

Later, having opened another chocolate orange, I went to Sa-ban (class 4) to find Sanghwa. They had their doors locked because the they were playing footleyball or whatever (it's played with a soccer ball, but looks like volleyball). I knocked on the door and when they saw through the glass that it was me, Sanghwa leaped over to unlock it, shouting "Chocolate! Chocolate!"

Part of me was very happy that he instantly knew what was happening--I had neglected to feed him earlier, so now he knew that I was there specifically for him, and was there with a treat. I also got chocolate to Afterschool-Jeongmin, who had sweetly greeted me on Christmas Day, despite me thinking that he really couldn't care less about me. He got my attention and waved on Christmas, and that was a big moment for me and Afterschool-Jeongmin.

Dongmin got a bit of chocolate orange, as did Model Seokho, whose beautiful face was covered with small bruises because as he said, "Face...blackboard...pow!" Tons of kids got bit of chocolate orange because I kept opening new oranges and wandering the halls, hoping to run into kids to give it to. They never disappoint in that respect. Seonwoo wanted chocolate, so I made a point of finding him during cleaning time.

Secret-Daeho came by to watch my Christmas lights twinkle. Saw America-Hyunkyeong for the first time in 3 weeks. I know I don't see the 3rd-graders near as often as the 2nd-grade, but I was starting to wonder where Hyunkyeong had gotten himself off to.

Saw Wooseok in the hall; got a beautiful smile and a double-high five. Smiled and said hi to BY, but we haven't really talked after the Christmas Eve incident, though I don't think I'm going to give him a lecture, anyway.

Before leaving school, I got a chocolate orange slice to Eyelashes-Hyungjin, who thanked me.

While walking home, some 3rd-graders I don't know struck up a conversation with me. I heard them practicing quietly with each other in English, saying "How old are you?" I repeated the question to them, "How old are you?" They said, "Oh no, not you!" As if they're practicing their English for someone else.

I answered, "I'm 27." Intense facial expressions follow. They are calculating. They decide the distance between us is not so great because the bravest one says, "You are very young. So young." I laughed and said, "No, I'm old!" Bravest One said, "Older. You are older than me." Among the students, there seem to be only two reactions to my age: "Wow, that's approaching elderly!" or "Wow, so young, we could totally hang out on the weekends!"

I went out for dinner with B-Teacher and S-Teacher. I rarely get to talk to her, but she was a riot. And I thought she was four years younger than me, but she's two years older! She's my unnie! Did not see that one coming.

We got to talk a lot about our school and it was very stress-relieving. She had stories, I had stories, and B-Teacher had stories, so we really enjoyed ourselves. And once again I hear how our school is a lousy place to work, especially for the Korean teachers. S-Teacher has only been at our school one semester longer than I have and in the summer she had to go to the city council and give some kind of testimony about school violence that happened in her homeroom class--it was that bad.

S-Teacher and B-Teacher talked about how our school is seriously ghetto (underfunded, lots of violence, lax manners). But there were some bright spots, too; B-Teacher complimented me on getting along with the kids. He said: "There's that kid, the quiet one who never speaks. I always try talking to him, but he never says a word, but the other day I saw him walking down the hall with you, smiling and playing with your hair."

The quiet kid in question was Seongwonnie. It's interesting how Seongwon goes into pre-verbal phases. It used to be like trying to talk to a toddler--he was either really noisy or almost totally unreactive. I had no clue that B-Teacher was trying to engage him, too. But B-Teacher shouldn't feel bad because it took me 3 months to get Seongwonnie out of his shell. Today, outside he kept dropping snowballs very near to me, so that  I wouldn't actually be hit, but I'd still feel the constant threat of being snow-stalked. That's my boy.

S-Teacher did say something sad, though--she said she doesn't like Saturday Jeongmin. He's not in her homeroom class, but he's in the next class over. She said she used to think he was really polite, but now she thinks he's annoying and braggy.

She says he doesn't really have friends because he's so smart, but also because he rubs it in. I've caught myself getting annoyed at Jeongminnie a few times because he just wouldn't stop being obnoxious about his knowledge, so I can't image that the other 13-year-olds are somehow going to manage their ire better than a grown woman can. Kids don't forgive.

Also, she said that he bothered her friend, his homeroom teacher, by taking up all her extra time with talking to her since he didn't have buddies. Sounds a lot like my other teacher friend getting annoyed at Dongminnie for always hanging around her office, endlessly talking about nothing in particular. It's time consuming to talk with them, but the boys are doing it because they're lonely or they're hurt or they're just looking to connect.

Now, I'm not a Korean teacher. I only get small inklings of how severe their workload is. But in my heart I feel like we should endeavor to not see the kids as interruptions. (Now that I've said that, watch me get annoyed at some kid for taking up all my time next week). That's no reason to dislike a kid, because they brag about the only thing they're good at--using their brain--and because they need to be loved and recognized so badly, they'll go to great lengths to get what they need.

B-Teacher said that Jeongminnie was talking to him about going to Canada for the break, but Jeongmin said he wasn't excited to go because he'll "Miss the interviews for Saturday class and miss Leigh-Teacher". B-Teacher said he couldn't understand why on earth Jeongmin was making such a big deal about missing the interviews, and I explained to him that in Jeongmin's eyes, I'm more like his first girlfriend than his English teacher. Separation is the terror of puppy love. Anyhow, I'm glad to be there for him. Jeongmin's been a blessing to me and I pray that the Lord will keep him safe on his trip, and help him figure out how to get along with his schoolmates.

And a shot of the Paris Baguette cake that me and my three friends tried and failed to eat on Christmas night:

Since Christmas in Korea is a couples' holiday not a family holiday, there are no huge Christmas dinners with your relatives. There's not special foods like turkey, ham, or other Christmas feast staples, so the main "Christmas food" in Korea is cake. No, you don't dig into a nice homemade Mississippi mud cake from your aunt or a pineapple upside-down cake from Grandma; instead, you buy a cake from a store.

And with your prepacked, pretty, perfect Christmas cake, you are given a packet of candles ant two really long matches. You are to light the candles of your cake as if it was a birthday. I thought it was the weirdest ritual, but as me and my crew sat at our coffee shop eating our cake, I turned and saw 2 couples with their own cakes, identical to ours, pulling out smoky candles and digging in. It was like an alternate reality Christmas where Birthday-Meets-Valentines somehow equals yuletide cheer. But it was all good. And tasty. :-)
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12-25-13 Merry Christmas! And Document O' Kids

9:30 AM: Merry Christmas!

It's Jesus' birthday, or the day on which we celebrate it at least, and I have many things to be thankful for. At church in Cheonan last week, our new pastor talked about how Jesus had to put off his eternal glory and heavenly fame to be incarnated as a human baby. Listening to him, I felt like I was beginning to understand for the first time the enormity of that step down.

In heaven, angels sang his praises all the time; on earth, he went unnoticed, a man of no reputation. In heaven, he was part of the Trinity and had a relationship with the Father that can't be fathomed, but he accepted some kind of distancing when he came down to us.

We rarely think about our own immense limitations, but human beings have to spend almost all our time caring for our physical needs. We sit in chairs because our bodies get tired--we dress warmly or coolly, we eat and sleep and do a thousand daily things just for the preservation and upkeep of the body we have. Jesus had one of these bodies, and it needed constant care, just as ours do.

All this happened, the infinite becoming finite, so he could communicate with us on our level and show us the Father's love and turn us away from our sins. It's... It's so beautiful and so bewildering, and I want to have some inkling of how tremendous an act it was for Jesus to be born as a person. The love that it took to live like the rest of us, then die like the worst of us and to count it all worthwhile because of the great love he has for us.

I just don't know. It's too sweet to really understand.



So, in honor of Christmas Day, and in the spirit of loving people, I present the Document O' Kids, a mostly-comprehensive list of the students I have taught and met and cared about this semester. I can call most of these students by name when I see them. Some names may repeat, and some kids are probably not listed, just by accident.
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My Fall 2013 Kids:

 MONDAY:

1^st class—1-7, 1-8 B  Kids: Hyo, Hyunmin, Cutiepie Best Friends Chanjin & Mingyu, Cool-Hyunjoon, Smart-Stubborn-Hyukjae, Sleepy-Front-Row Moonshik, Next-to-Hyo-Minjoon, Poet-Necktie-JangYeop, Tan-Kyeongwon (sits with Hyunmin), Big-Smart-Hweeyu.  Youngchan (big eyes, sits by Hyukjae). Taeho (looks like Deokryung), Kibeom (glasses, braces, behind Hweeyu). Yehoon (smart, glasses), Hyungoo, Hyungoon (glasses, smart, cool, Hyunminnie), Yosep,  Hyunwoo (sits by Taeho). Jeongmin (mettdugi, grasshopper, sits by Hyunmin).

2^nd class—3-5, 3-6 B Kids:  Love-You-Sungjae, Enthusiastic-Yeonghyo, Confident-Hyunjoon, Quiet-Hwangmin, Teacher’s Pet Jeongmin, Braces Sooncheon, Lawyer-Junhee, Interestingly-Cut-Hair-Gyuyeong, Last-Kid-Jangwon(played Spoons). Hair-Doyong. Tall-Blackhair Sangmin, Cutie-Goodsinger-Kyeonghyun.

3^rd class—2-9, 2-10 A Kids:  Clever-Seonwoo (afterschool), Big-Guy-Geon (Saturday), Soccer-Minwoo, Stoic-Seonghak (afterschool), Funny-Taekyeong (afterschool), Jinyoung (afterschool)  Green-Jacket-Gyumin, Joker-Yoonseong, Cutie-Joonseok, Sits-by-Seonwoo-Minjoon., Sits-by-Taekyeong-Wookyung, Tiny-Joonsung (sitsby Minwoo). Sangmin (big eyes, skin),Seunggi (pale skin, glasses). Rewon (sits by Seonghak). Something---Hwe (smart).

4^th class—2-7, 2-8 A Kids: Peter-Pan-Taehoon, Grumpmaster-Jiwoong, Diamond-in-the-Rough-Seonghyun (afterschool boys), Sparkly-Daehoon and Kind-Jihyuk, Helpful-Ikhwan, Sharp-Sujin , Tall-Hyungmin . Second row, left side: Tan-Sumin and Hates-Crayon-Pop-Hyunee, first row, right side: Hamburger-Byeongjo( “mr. Lee”)  and  Sharp-faced Sukyoon. Fun-Hyunmyeong, Tall-Jeongwook (good hair). Jeongsu (sits by Hyungmin),  Seunghwan (chubby), Seongtaek (smart, sits in front of Hyunmyeong, green jacket), Seungwoo (glasses, by Taehoon, can’t remember my name). Youngmin (cute, works beside Taehoon).  Kimin (tan, wanted chocolate)

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TUESDAY:

1^st class: 2-7, 2-8 B Kids: Sweet-Voice- Chansu, Glasses-Intelligent-Jungbok, Jolly-Sanghyeop, Cardsharp-Minsu, Date-Danhee, Loud-Team-Three-Duyeol, OMG-Joonwoo (Chansu’s friend—smart, high voice), Changyo (Team 3—sharp, mischievous)., Front Row: Hojin (smart smart smart) and Jaeseok , Back row, right: Byeongwook and Cheolhoon (teeth). Jinshik (middle near Jungbok—clever), Heewon (back row), Yeongbin (back row, tiny, perfect skin…THIS IS YEONGHYO’S BROTHER), Do-Il (minsu’s friend), Iyagi (good singer, good at English).

1-5, 1-6 B Kids: Hyunshik-Pig, Munsu-Octopus, Jinho-Puppy, Acapella-Hyunho, Frontrow-Heekyu, Reserved-Cool-Kid Minjong (left side of room, sits by wall), Smart-Frontrow Jaehyung, Shoe-Throwing Jongmin, Sanghyun (Team 3, Tall, Loud, Glasses), Yunghyun (Team 3, Loud, Cute),  Yongyeon (quiet, back of room), Sangwoo (Tan, Smart, Team 1, ‘English is scary’). Little-Yongmoon, Train-Kicheol, Comes-to-the-Office-Sungjin, Tan-Round-Junbeom, Broken-Leg-Dongha. Taegwon.

2-5, 2-6 B Kids:  Big-Eyes  Injae, Dongjun, Snappy-Seongsu, S-Line-Dongjin,  Tan-Glasses-Taekyoon., English-Ace-Jonghoon (glasses), Kangjae (tall trouble, KBR student), Twin-Jeongho (twin), Munseong (orange jacket, back of room, said I-love-you), Jongin (looks likes Simyong), Not-My-Wooseok (glasses, sits with Jeongho). Changho (dark hair)and Yoopil, sit in front of Dongjin. Hyunwoo (handsome) sits with Dongjun. Sangwook ( big, silent kid sits in back).

3-3, 3-4 B  Eyelashes-Hyungjin, Small-Sweet Minhyuk, Intelligent_reads-Life-of_Pi-Jaebeom, Giant-Shion, Hosun (sweet), Hunyeong (round face), Juyeong (looks like Yoonseop), Jaemin (quiet, good English)

WEDNESDAY:

1^st class—1-1, 1-2 B --- Won(back,jjang), Sucheon (Sejoon’s BFF), Soonhyuk (brown bowlcut, Team 2—Sooncheonnie’s brotherrrr!!!), Joonseo (big eyes, cute), Sangho (tall team 2, 2^nd jang, seriously good english), Chaeho (fun, afterschool),  Square-Buzz-Daehwan , Penguin-Jaeyeong (compulsive liar), Hwanghyeok (big, front row, friend of Joonseo), Sejoon (i called him Sungmin for months), Joohyun (cute, glasses, long hair, Woobin's friend), Donggu (round, looks serious), Prince Woobin (studious, afterschool), Teeny-Tiny Byeonghun, Ji-myoung (Sits by Sungmin, Sejoon’sfriend.)

2^nd class—2-3, 2-4 A  Kids: Sunbin and Hyun (afterschool),  Myeongkeun (hyun’s firend), Joon and Jeongmin (afterschool), Yoonjae (Tall), Minwoo (introduced me to BY), BY (my favorite), Shinhyuk (necktie), Inha (Hyungjae’s friend), Hojin (tall, played Slenderman), Jiheum (tall, sits by Shinhyuk), Yongheum (eyes), sat by Jeongmin).Wonwoo and Doyoon (bowlcut. Yoonjin (tiny, fluffy haircut). Daeyoo (smarty,sits right and back). Goohyun (smart, Torchwood, back row).

2-9, 2-10 B: Sweet-Afterschool-Jinseop, Jinseop’s friend Seonghoon, Sangwoon and Seulbin (the smart guys), Tall-Roundface-Minchan, Braces-Donghyuk, Tan-Frontrow-Byeonghyuk., Athletic-Woonki, Huge-Eyes-Jeonghee. Blackhair-Seonwoo (funny, sits near back), Taesu (big strong kid, won at arm-wrestling),  Sungmin (front row, saw me in Itaewon), Jaehee (small, helps with computers, fussy), Youngmook (front row, left quiet).

4^th class  3-1, 3-2 B  Yoonseop, Little-Hyunbin, We-Are-the-World Dongyeong, Inshik (round, good English), Jimin (glasses), Bomjoon (thinks I have boyfriend). Card club: Sungyoung (jj), Donghyun (kingpin), Wooyoung, Younghwan, Cheolmin, Joohyun, Juseong (6 meetings), Junki, Guhyun (cards).

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THURSDAY:

1^st class—2-1, 2-2 A Letter-Byeonghyun, Joker-Seongmo, Poet-HH, Artist-Joohyun, Kimchi Power Kyeongbae, Glasses Seohyung, Red Sweater-Keundeok, Perpetually Sick-Byeongmin, Anime Euigi., Joonhyuk and Chaehwan—smart kids, right side of the room, Sungjoon (glasses, sits next to Euigi), Eunshik (tall, looks like Sujin but isn’t Sujin). Sits-by-Kyungbae-Jinwoo, Bunny Dawit.

2^nd class—1-9, 1-10 B  Laryngitis Seonghoon, Teddybear Deokryung, 8-bit Glasses-Seonghyun, Wide-Eyed Joonpil, Joonpil’S Tall Friend Geonhong,  Tan Skin-Sanggyu, Baby Deukhee. Crazy-Hair Yooseok , Glasses-Right-Side-Daejeong, Friends-With-Seunghoon-Hyunseok (AFTERSCHOOL!), Cutie-Beomjoon. Sits with Seonghyun-Minsu./ Beomjoon, Hoodie-Woohyuk, Yunho—the main friend grouping.

3^rd class—2-5, 2-6A Yeongjun (smart), Tanned-Minsu, Adorable-Insung, Talkative Jinseo, Tall-Gyuchan., High-Voice Dongheum, Deokjae, Heonmin, Byeongji, Seungjae (glasses), Junsu (round cutie), Seunghoon (smart, middle,  looks like Heonmin but isn’t), Donghyun (gyuchan’s friend), Inho (roundish, back near Insung), Hyunseok (sits by Yeongjoon).

FRIDAY:

1^st class—1-3, 1-4 B   Walk-to-School Minki, Bossy-Dongseok, Tan-Loudmouth-Sangyeop, Round-Faced-Heesu, Inho. Tiny-Quiet-Seongyo (middle of room), Personality-Jaeseon(tan, back of room-revenge minecraft song), Bully-Jaekyung, Supersmart-Eunchan., Yoohan (middle, nice, quiet, next to Yoodam), Jaehyun (Dongseok’s friend, wild hair, narrow face), Jeongho (super-tall, dark hair, friends with Jaekyung).Yong (small, braces), Big-Eyes-Yoodam, Minjoon (quiet, back of room, next to Jaekyung) Helped Minjoon and Jeongho (back of room)played word game.

2^nd class—2-1, 2-2 B  Shotputter Jinseong, Thank-You-Minseop, Taylor-Swift-Yoontae, Twin-Seungho, Cutie-Hyunki, Smart- Hyunmook, Glasses -Yonghan., Comics-Joon and Sits-Next-to-Joon Hyunjoon. Respectful-Woojin. Bitty-Baby Hyunbin. Cute-Sanghyun. Smart-plump cheeks-Jiwon

3^rd class—2-3, 2-4 B  Sanghwa (afterschool),  Redhair-Joonyoung, Tall-Sweet Junho, Loudmouth Scorekeeper Yoonseok, B-Class Minwoo, Joonsang, Smart-Jiseung (I admire you),  Yongmin (dragon, sits by Woojae), Afro-Woojae, Smart-Byeongyoon (sits by Junho), Jongseong (Johnson, tiny little boy), Taejoong (good speller), Kangmin (Sanghwa’s friend—hair), Seungah (cleans office, called me “pretty Sem” on the first day).

4^th class—3-7, 3-8, 3-9 B  Smile Byeongseon, Strong- Donghwi, Tall-Jaekwang, Guide-Jaewan, Bowlcut- Youngjin (met him at the playground), Meet-Sungjoon (boy in theback, Daeho keeps me from meeting),  Boo-Jongha (tall, glasses, dark hair, said “boo” to me), Model-Seokho (wants to be a model, always sleeps in class), Boxer-Sol, Tall-Gangwon.

Mostly Kids I Don't Teach, but Who I Still Know:

Young-Joon looks like Seohyung but isn’t.

 Joonsang--- Spritely-Yeongchang, tan, hangs out with Inha, Yeongshik, Thin-Glasses-Minwoo, Round-Myeongchun, Black-Hair-Jeonghyun, B-Class-Jeongmin,

Need-You-Junho (boyfriend)

Junho’s Loud Friend—Boisterous-Jinbong,

Yeonghyo’s buddies—Bowlcut-Jinhwan and Quiet-Inhak ,Tiny-Mimic-Jaehwan, Swimming-Suyeong, Dokyung, Byeongkeun, Juseong. Geonhee.

First-grader who proposes to me: Heejoon.

Pepper-Dongmin.

Taehoon’s friend, Loud-Hyunmyeong, threw erasers.

3^rd-grader with great English, played Slenderman: Hobeom.

1^st-grade dark hair, round, Saturday Jeongmin’s friend: Woohyuk.

Bowing 3^rd-grader: Minwoo.

Deokryung’s classmate with guitar: Donghyun.

1^st-grade love confession:  Yonghan. (tan, wide eyes)

Glasses-Superhigh voice-Whose name I can never remember: Minjoon

Big-Eyes in 2-1, HH’s class: Dawit.

Wooseok.

Saturday boys: Hyungro, Yejae, Jaewon, Jeongwon.

Tiny-tiny-tiny cutiepie: Seongjik.

Jeongbom—Round kid, 2-7, always wants chocolate.

Computer Jeongmin—carries teacher’s computers, gave me gum.

Loud A-class 1^st grader on Mondays: Jongyoon

C-class 2nd-grader, tall: Dongyoon

Smells-my-hair: Heechan. Also at card games: Heonho and Jinho.

Jinseo’s wide-eyed C-class  friend: Joonhyuk.

3^rd-grader in special needs room: Joonhyung.

My 3-1, 3-2 B spoon-card players: Wooyoung, Yeonghwan (black hair), Juseong (met me 6 times, I thought he was Jimin), Cheolmin (skin), Sungyoung (JJang), Donghyun (black hair, kingpin), Joohyun (cried at test?)

First-grader, smart, tall: Changyeon.
Jeonghee’s friend in Class 10: Kim Soohyun (tall).
Hello-Sister Kid: Yeongjae
“I See You” 3^rd-grader: Kyeongro-

Saturday Jeongmin
Piano Jaehyung, Joonsung, Byeongsu, Chanyoung.
Soccer-Daesung
Intensity Insung
America Hyunkyeong
Secret Daeho

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:-) Those are my kids. :-)

12-24-13 Christmas Eve, Lollipops, and BY Goes Too Far

10:20 AM Merry Christmas Eve!

Well, the Christmas lollipops my mom sent me have done been real popular, y'all. My mother sent 4 boxes of lollipops with 12 pops per box, and this morning, I started handing some out...

This is All That Remains.

Just when I think that the boys have tapped out their ability to go banana-sandwich over candy, some new candy gets introduced into the mix and their sugar craze rachets up yet again. Reeses Cups. Christmas lollipops. Heaven forbid I ever give them Lindor truffles--they will spontaneously combust.

The 2-7, 2-8 A boys filed out of class so quickly, none of them asked for candy. I though disappointedly that I wouldn't get a chance to give Jiwoong anything. I thought wrong. As I walked down the corridor, Hyunmyeong caught up with me, then another kid, then another kid, so finally I was swamped with young'uns.

I sought out Jiwoong's face in a crowd so he could get chocolate. He was tremendously gratified. Then of course, Jeongwook had to go into his pitiful "Teacher, you don't know me?" routine, which gets me every time even though I know it's coming. Baby Seongjik had to get one, of course, as did Snappy Seongsu. Within 60 seconds, all 24 lollipops were gone.

There wasn't a lollipop left for Changyo, one of my favorites, so I went downstairs to my office to get another box to offer him one. When I stepped out of my first-floor office, I was met with a crew of six beaming boys who were running down the hall, having followed me down the stairs in hopes of getting treats. Changyo was among them, as was Duyeol.

Then another C-class child I don't really know came down the stairs to beg for "big candy". Because word is circulating on the 2nd floor that there is now something special to be obtained, if you're brave enough to ask for it. I gave him one, and now I have to decide how to dispense of the remaining 10 candies. I think I'm going to walk up to Sam-ban and make sure that Wooseok and BY get one before they're all gone. I want to reconnect with Wooseok after yesterday, and BY always deserves nice things.

Sky is clear today.

Outside Our School.

And In This Coat, My Shadow is Shaped Like a Bell.

Blurry Me.

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10:50 AM Wooseok was sleeping, but some kids woke him up and I got him his candy. Everyone in Sam-ban was asking why Wooseok of all people was being sought out and woken up just to get the special candy. It was hard to explain to them that Wooseok is important. That I'm seeking him out because I don't think anyone else does. 

BY got his candy, and while I was swarmed by boys I didn't know, Pepper-Dongmin came up and waved and said hi in a hopeful manner, like he was pretty sure I'd give him something since he knows me. I did. He's my boy, now. If I have stuff, he gets stuff.

Saw Shotputter-Jiseong nearly strangling Baby-Seongjik, but it seemed to be in jest. I pulled Jinseong off, though, and gave him a lollipop. Seongjik got a sucker earlier, but he kept following me around and insisting on another. So next break, I'm going up there with a Christmas note and a chocolate for that baby, because he's clearly in serious need of some attention.

Many kids on the second floor were walking around with their lollipops, flaunting their status and looking breezy, like billionaire philanthropists. There's a certain aura of ease and assurance surrounding the kids who got candy--I could not have predicted that it would catch on like that. I thought they'd just eat them and be done with it, but that's not how things shook out. Because lollipops are fundamentally different than chocolate. Lollipops last. And while you take 30 minutes to finish your huge lollipop, everyone gets to observe you having one.

B-class Seonwoo and Tan-Taehyun thanked me for theirs.

Got a little Christmas present of chocolate from Mr. B!

Front View.

Back View.

Naturally, I have eaten it all. I make short work of sweets. Am not unlike my students in that respect.

Yet another C-class boy that I don't even know asked me for chocolate, then was willing to follow me down the hall, down the stairs, and down another hall to get it. My heart goes out to the C-class boys--they feel so disconnected in so many ways.

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2:45 PM Lunch and thereafter was good. Daesung and some new boys came to get me early for Monopoly--Intensity Insung, a 3rd-grade Seongmin that I haven't met, and Kyeongro, a boy who decided yesterday that he loves me because I gave him chocolate for the first time.

Soon, Saturday Jeongmin came to sit with us, and we had no problems with Wooseok becasue Wooseok had been in the room at the beginning and he came in at the end, but he was far away from my Jeongminnie at all times. I feel like I'm trying to protect a bunny rabbit from a capricious cat.

I looked up an older post from November 28th where I compared Wooseok to a cat again: ( "Around the 3rd-graders, Wooseok is a lot like a cat running among a pack of Labrador retrievers. Nimble and perfectly capable of dodging danger if one of the Labradors decides their cat pal has batted their tails one too many times.") Animal metaphors may be trite, but for lunchtime Monopoly I do feel like I'm juggling a room of big dogs, one feisty cat, and a sweet fluffy bunny. The Labradors don't care about bothering the bunny but they occasionally get upset at the cat, and the cat has to be kept from noticing the bunny at all costs.

Anyhoo, I wrote Jeongminnie a special card and gave him a Christmas present--a game of Jack Straws my mom had sent. He seemed incredibly happy to have it and I was glad to give him something. 

When Wooseok walked into the math room at the beginning, he came up to me and petted my head, like I do to him. Most of the boys touch my hair reverently, as if they're about to get slapped for it, but Wooseok's affectionate hair-stroking was more like a family thing, like saying, "We're not both doing different things right now, but we know each other is there."

In 1-5, -1-6 B, we had fun for our last class together and the boys had the genius idea of playing in teams, so eight of them got to play, each kid on a team rolling one of the dice and each kid holding half their money.

Changyeon and Hyungro are two of my favorite A-levels who came into class at the end and requested Reeses. Hyungro's smart enough to ask where they can be purchased. I told him they were from America and he was only thrown off for a split second. He immediately offered to buy the Reeses bag from me. That is the extent to which the kids like Reeses--the cleverer ones are trying to obtain a stash of their own, or to go directly to the source, the fountain of chocolate-peanut-buttery goodness, as it were.

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2-5, 2-6 B was full of favorites having a good time at Monopoly. I offered to be banker, but they wanted me participating the whole time. I played with Jongin, Twin-Jeongho and Taekyoon with Not-My-Wooseok as banker, then for the second game it was Not-My-Wooseok, Kangjae, and Taekyoon with Twin-Jeongho as banker. And let me tell you, he is the sassiest banker ever. At one point Taekyoon needed $500 changed into hundreds and Jeongho gave it to him in 50s.

We had the best time and the boys were treating me with such camaraderie, with their "Sem does this, and Sem did that" conversational patter. Darling. At the end, everyone crowded in for chocolate and Jonghoon proposed to me. He said we should get married (presumably so he'll have better access to the chocolate), but then Injae said he loved me more, and the boys quickly decided that I should marry Injae instead.

In the hallway after class, Wooseok saw me, gave a cheery "hi!" and offered me a high five with both hands, like we were members of a winning basketball team. And we are on the same team. You and me (and the other kids) against the world, honey.

Seongwonnie came up to me in the hall and hugged me. Just a real, genuine hug. Then he played with my hair some more and tried to use some English words. Seongwon. Tried. To use English. And these days in the hallway, he doesn't go by me without some kind of special recognition--he's my boy and we don't ignore each other for any reason.

Junho made kissing sounds at me in the lunch line, but other than that, he was well-behaved today.

Waved hi at Seongmo once but didn't even see Byeonghyun.

Governor-Yunho's friend Cute-Beomjoon from 1-9, 1-10 B has decided that I am now an object of interest (kid hasn't said a word to me all semester until the last two weeks). I saw him twice today and on both occasions he said, "You are cutie." He wasn't even trying to get candy--he just said this because he wanted to. The second time he confidently added, "You are my girlfriend." And now I have another one. Join the boyfriend club, sweetheart. 

My Christmas package from Mom arrived late this afternoon! It's mostly candy for the kids, which is what I really wanted anyway. I ripped into it and started filing away different delightful treats in my school cabinet. Then I got to the chocolate oranges, the best thing ever, and started taking them around to the desks of my co-teachers. I got presents delivered to everyone pertinent, but I was left holding one last chocolate orange at cleaning time.

I opened the packaging of the chocolate orange and whacked it on the end to open it. I gave pieces to every kid I came across--Pepper-Dongmin, my Wooseok, sweet and crazy Seonwoo from my afterschool, who always squeals and tries to annoy me when he's around. As the 3rd-graders left, I got chocolate to Intensity-Insung, Model-Seokho, and 6-Meetings-Juseong, who gave me a grape candy in return.

As I was standing at the front door of the school, looking for kids to give the last bits of chocolate orange to, BY attacked me with his standard backhug. But things went awry. He's normally very careful to let his hands land only on my shoulders during backhugs, but this time his hand "accidentally" slipped. I moved him off me and said, "Watch that hand." He replied meekly, "I understand," which let me know that it was definitely premeditated. 

I still gave him a piece of chocolate, patted his head,and wished him a Merry Christmas before he limped away for home, but sheesh. This boy. Give him an inch and he takes 5 kilometers. Fortunately, I was in layers and a massive coat so the situation wasn't as bad as it could have been, but seriously. 

I'm not remotely angry, but I am trying to figure out how to deal with a kid who is delightful and who clearly craves love and attention, but who just stretches the boundaries at every turn. It's not mean-spirited--if almost any other student had done the same thing, I would have hauled them into the office and had their homeroom teacher kick them into another time zone. But not BY. He's just different.

And yet it's not good for his heart or his moral character if I let him get the things he wants just because he's tricky. He can have attention and praise and hugs, but he's got to learn to stop pressing for more. And that in a nutshell is the difficulty of dealing with adolescents; they're not innocent enough to be treated like children, and not worldly or dangerous enough to be kept at arms' length, like you would with most men. 

You have to give and give and give, then be ready to pull back momentarily when they do something unexpected. To be a wellspring of affection, appreciation, and encouragement, but to not get resentful and stop caring when they mess up and try to take more than they should.

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